Land leveler



Nov. 13, 1928. 1,691,854

E. CVERMAN LAND LEVELER Filed Dec. 22, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 13, 1928.

1,691,854 E. OVERMAN LAND LEVELER Filed Dec. 22, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E Orerman Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

UNITED STATES EDWARD OVERMAN, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

LAND LEVELER.

Application filed December 22, 1927. Serial .No. 241,910.

This invention relates to drag scrapers or levelers, and particularly levelers of that type in which a cutting and scraping blade is mounted upon a supporting frame, the scraping blade acting to scrape off or slice oif high places and conveying the material.

so cut off to low places in the roadway or other ground being scraped.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a device, of this kind which includes a supporting frame, a blade, and means a'fing automatically and dis-' posed forward of the blade whereby the blade may be caused to cut deeper into the ground whenever the blade cames to a high place and which acts to cause the blade to carry the earth so cut off along over the surface of the ground until a low place is met with, whereupon the blade is discharged.

A further object is to provide means whereby the blade may be raised or lowered as desired by hand and whereby this raising of the blade. will cause the frame to move along on rollers withthe blade above the surface of the ground Another object is to provide means whereby the blade may be manually shifted or tilted from a position of less cut to a position of greater out.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will appear more fully hereinafter. I

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a top plan view of the drag scraper constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a like View to showing the scraper raised;

Figure 4 is a like view to Figures 2 and 3 but showing the body of the scraper entirely raised for traveling.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the frame of my improved land leveler consists of the upper and lower lon- Figure 2 but gitudinally extending, laterally spaced angle irons 10 and 11. These may be angle irons or T-irons or may be channel irons. These irons 10 and 11 are held in spaced relation by the vertical members or webs 12, which may also be of any suitable construction.

A platform 13 is mounted upon the upper pair of angle irons 10 adjacent the rear end thereof, and this platform is supported by the cross pieces or braces 14 and 1 5. upwardly curved cross piece or brace 16 is provided at the forward end of the machine. A detachable runnei iron 18'is bolted or otherwise attached to each of the longitudinal members 11. and the angle iron 11 constitute runners, each runner being turned upward at its forward end and at its rear end extending up The runner iron 18 ward andrearward and. supportinga bear? ing for a shaft 19 upon which are mountedthe rollers'20' or wheels. These rollers are; so supported that they are on a level with the sled runner. Mountedupon the rails or beams 10 are the-forwardly converging irons 21 upon which any suitable draft device .22 may be mounted. v

Mounted between vertical webs 23 forward of the platform 13 is an arcuate'scraper blade 24. This scraper blade has wings or end pieces 25 and these are pivotally mounted upon the brace. this pivot consists of a transverse shaft 26 but I donot wish to be limited to this. i

It will be noted that the pivotal axis for the wings 25 and for the scraper blade isv not concentric to the scraper blade but eccentric thereto. Loosely mounted upon the shaft 26 is a forwardly converging frame 27, which at its forward end' carries the'tw-o caster wheels 28. This frame oscillateswith the scraper; Attached to the scraper and extending over the shaft 26, if. a shaft 26 As illustrated,

is used, is a tongue 29 which extends up ward and forward and overthe forward end of the U-shaped frame 27, and passing through the tongue and connecting this tongue to the frame is a-wing bolt 30 and between the tongue and the frame and I around the bolt is disposed the coiled compression spring 31. The scraper blade is provided upon its rear face with the outwardly projecting arm 32 which is con-j nected by a link'33 to a lever 34, this lever being pivoted upon an ear 35 at the rear end of the machine and being urged downward by a spring 36 which surrounds. a pedal 37 which extends up through the platform 13. Mounted in bearings upon the forward: edge of the platform 13 is a crankshaft 38 having a handle 39 whereby it maybe manipulated, the crank of this shaft being connected by a link 40 to a lever 41 which is pivotally mounted upon ears on the forward cross bar of the supporting frame. This lever 41 bears against the upper face of the tongue 29 and when the lever 39 is drawn rearward the lever 41 will be depressed, thus forcing: downward upon the forward end of the tongue 29 and forcing the wheel frame 27 downward and the scraper upward.

The general operation of this device, assuming thatthe lever 39 is shifted for; Ward, is as follows: As the'machine moves over the ground the caster wheels 28 will also move over the ground so that in going over a high place on the surface of a field or road these caster wheels at the front end of the frame 27 will lift this frame at this end and depress the cutting blade so that the cutting edge of the cutter will go deeper into the ground, thus cutting off the high place. The cutter will remain in this position and will carry the earth so cut off along until the frame 27 comes to a low place or depression in the field. The wheels of this its rollers.

controlling frame will then move downward and this will rotate the cutting blade upward and rearward, thus allowing the accumulated earth to be released or discharged into the hollowor depression and thus filling up the.

soil ever low places in the field. The com-' pression spring which surrounds the foot pedal is for the purpose of counterbalancing the weight of the controlling frame 27 and The lever 39 is for the purpose of manually regulating the leveling device.

. If this lever is pulled back, the lever 41 will force'down thetongue 29, which will force down the controlling frame 27 and thus the front end of the sled is lifted and the whole leveling device will be carried on the casters at the front end and the rollers at the rear end. By the same operation the-cutter is also lifted so that the'whole apparatus may be turned at the ends of a field or road or over a large depression in the field that needs to be filled in, or the apparatus may be drawn to or from the field to be leveled. It is to be particularly noted that the blade is eccentrically pivoted, as before stated, and thus when the blade is turned completely downward it will tend to carry the earth from one place to another, and when the controlling frame or truck moves downward the blade will be turned into a discharge position.

It will be seen that this device is very simple, that it is very strongly constructed,

andthat it'is particularly effective for the purpose described. The frame is sufficiently long so that it doesnot travel into holes or ride over humps or pro ecting portions of the ground but that it is the scraper which is I that it is necessary to provide means for adjusting the cutting edge of the scraper to the proper level of the runners so that the scraper will neither out too deeply or too slightly, as in cutting too deep too great a load would be carried and if not deep enough the scraper would pass over the lumps without removing them. To this end, as I have illustrated, I have pivotally connected the controlling frame to shaft 26 to permit this frame 27 to oscillate independently of the oscillation of the scraper and I have operatively connected the controlling frame 27 to the scraper by means of the tongue 29. This tongue is connected to the controlling frame 27 by means of the bolt 30 with the wing nut. The controlling frame 27 and the tongue are separated by the compression spring 31 through which the Wing bolt'or screw 30 passes. Assuming that the casters of the controlling frame 27 are at the level of the runners 11 and 18 and the wing nut 30 is screwed down fully, then the cuttingedge of the scraper 24 will be raised above the level of the runners 11' and. the humps passed over, but when the wing screw, 30 is fully unscrewed the cutting edge of the blade will be below the level of the runners 11 and out too deeply,'but by properly adjusting the wing screw 30 and the compression spring 31, the proper adjustment can be obtained. After this adjustment is obtained, any variation in height of the caster wheels 28 will cause a like variation in the tongue be omitted and the frame 27 connected rigidly to the shaft 26 or to the scraper. The

.meanswhich I have employed, however, permit the very ready adjustment of the cut ting bladerelative to the controlling tongue. The basic principle of my device rests in the automatic controlling of the scraper by means of a controlling device (27) which 29 and thus cause the oscillation of the blade 1 follows the contour of the ground by means of wheels, a dra or a runner, and it will be understood, therefore, that I do not wish to be limited to the use of the wheels 28.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangement of parts, I do not wish to be limited to these as many changes might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim l. A land leveler of the character described comprisin a supporting frame, a scraper pivoted upon the frame for downward and forward movement, and a ground engaging controlling member operatively connected to the scraper and disposed in front of the pivotal center thereof and acting to lift the scraper as the controlling memlowcrs and depress the scraper as the controlling member is raised.

'2. A land leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, a scraper, pivotally mounted upon the frame for downward and forward bodily movement in-an arc of a circle, and a ground engaging controlling member operatively connected to the scraper to oscillate therewith and disposed in front of the pivotal axis of the scraper, said controlling member having a. ground engaging wheel 3. A land leveler of the character de'- scribed comprising asupporting frame, a scraper pivotally mounted upon the frame for downward and forward bodily move ment in an arc of a circle, and a groundcngaging controlling member operatively connect-ed to the scraper to oscillate therewith and disposed in front of the pivotal axis of the scraper, said controlling member including an approximately U-shaped frame having caster wheels attached thereto.

l. A land leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, a scraper pivotally mounted upon the frame for downward and forward bodily movement in an arc of a circle, a ground engaging controlling member operatively connected to the scraper to oscillate therewith and disposed in front of the pivotal axis of the scraper, said controlling member including an approximately U-shaped frame having caster wheels attached thereto, and a tongue attached to the scraper and extending over the forward end of the U-shaped frame and operatively connected thereto,

5. A land leveler of the character described, including a supporting frame, a curved scraping blade having forwardly projecting end pieces and pivotally mounted upon the frame on an axis extending through the end pieces and. eccentric to the curved blade, and ground engaging means disposed in advance of the axis of the blade and operatively connected to the blade to cause the blade to rise when the ground engaging means is depressed and to fall as the ground engaging means is raised.

6. A ground leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, an

arcuately curved blade mounted :upon the frame .and having forwardly pro ecting wings, the wings beingoperatively pivoted to the frame on an axis eccentric to the blade, a controlling truck operatively connected to said wings and extending in ad- Vance thereof and having ground engaging wheels, a tongue operatively connected to the blade and extending forward and over the controlling truck and operativcly connected thereto, a lever mounted upon. the forward end of the frame, the lever when turned in one. direction being adapted to be engaged with said tongue to depress thesame, and a manually operable lever mounted upon the supporting frame for actuating the first named lever. j i

7. A ground leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, an arcuately curved blade mounted upon the frame and having forwardly projecting wings, the wings being operativ'ely pivoted to the frame on an axis eccentric to the blade, a controlling truck operatively connected to said wings and extending in ad Vance thereof and having ground engaging wheels, tongue operatively connected to the blade and extending forward and over the controlling truck and operatively connected thereto, a lever mounted upon the forward end of the frame, the lever when turned in one direction being adapted to be engaged with said tongue to depress. the same, a manually operable lever mounted upon the supporting frame for actuating the first named lever, a bolt connecting the tongue with the truck frame, and a saring disposed between the truck frame and the I said tongue.

8.. A ground. leveler of the character de-' scribed comprising a supporting frame in cluding two laterally disposed runners, the rear ends of the runners being upwardly turned, a shaft having wheels mounted upon the rear ends of the, runners, ascraper blade pivotally mounted between said runners for downward and forward swinging movement,

a nut controlling truck operatively connected to said scraper blade andextending in advance thereof between said runners andhaving ground engaging wheels, and manually operable means adapted to force the forward end of said truck downward to thereby depress the wheels and raise the supporting 7 frame upon said forward wheels and the rear wheels. j 9. A ground leveler of the character described including a supporting frame having laterally disposed runners, an arcuately curved blade disposed between the runners and having forwardly extending wings operatively pivoted to the runners on an axis eccentric to the curvature of the blade, a ground engaging truck frame operatively connected to the wings and scraper blade at its'rear end and having ground engaging wheels. at its forward endwhereby to automatically control the depth of cut, and a lever operatively connected to the scraper blade and having a pedal whereby the lever may be depressed. V

10. A leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame formed of upper and lower longitudinally extending angle irons, vertical webs connecting the angle irons and tranverse members connecting the upper angle irons on each side, sled runners attached to the lower angle irons and. projecting beyond the same at each end, the rear ends of said runners supporting wheels, draft devices applied to said frame, an arcuately curved blade having wings at its ends and disposed on said frame between. the runners, a shaft eccentric to the curvature of the blade mounted upon the sides of the frame and extending through the wings, a U- shaped controlling truck frame mounted upon said shaft and operativelyconnected to the ends of the blade, caster wheels secured to the forward end of the controlling frame, a tongue attached to the blade and to said shaft and extending over the forward end of the controlling frame and operatively connected thereto, means for manually depressing the forward end of the controlling frame,

and means for manually depressing the blade and lifting the controlling frame.

11. A land leveler of the characterdescribed comprising a supporting frame, a scraper mountedupon the frame for downward or upward movement, and ground engaging controlling means operatively connected to the scraper and disposed in front of the pivotal center thereof and acting to lift the scraper as the controlling means lowers and depress the scraper as the con trolling" means is raised. 2

12. A land leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, a scraper mountedupon the frame for down-j scra er relative .to the round en a in 93 y D D D.

member. i

13. A leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, an arcuately curved blade mounted upcn'theframe for downward and forward swinging movement, a controlling truck mounted for downward and upward movement and disposed forward of the blade and having ground-engaging members, a tongue rigidly connected to the blade and extendingforward therefrom and over the controlling truck, and an adjustable connection between the forward end of the truck and said tongue such that said tongue will move with the truck.

14. A. leveler of the character described comprising a supporting frame, an arcuately curved blade mounted upon the'frame for downward and forward swinging movement,

a controlling truck mounted for downward and upward movement and disposed forward of the blade and having ground engaging members, a tongue rigidly connected to the blade and extending forward therefrom and over the controlling truck, an adjustable connection between the forward endof the truck and said tongue such that said tongue will v In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

EDWARD ovERMAN, 

